| |
Abstract:
The nature of the spatial representations that underlie
simple visually guided actions early in life were investigated
through the application of a "double-step" saccade paradigm to 3-
and 7-month-old infants (A). Saccades in the older infants, like
those observed in adults, were executed within body-centered
spatial coordinates (B) that take into account the effects of
intervening eye movements. Younger infants tended to respond
according to the targets' retinocentric locations and did not
incorporate the effects of displacements caused by previous
saccades. These results indicate that body-centered representations
for action are not present from birth but emerge, probably through
experience, over the first few months of life.
|
